Liquid wax applicator



March 14, 1961 R. A. cAsslA LIQUID wAx APPLICATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May l5, 1956 l 31.155: T R Y v l. O E f NN W E x0 WH. @n l1 A 1MB W March 14, 1961 R. A. cAsslA LIQUID wAx APPLICATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 15, 1956 igiw INVENTOR n Fcl/and 561551@ BY ffm,

' their seats.

LIQUm WAX APPLICATOR Roland A. Cassia, 19 Primrose St., White Plains, NY.

Filed May 15, 1956, Ser. No. 584,968

Claims. (Cl. 15-'569) This invention relates to apparatus for applying liquid Wax to a. work surface `and in particular to Van improved valving mechanism for controlling the flow of wax.

Controlling the ow of liquid wax from an applicator is extremely ditcult. Liquid wax is very fluid and its flow can only be eifectively controlled by means of very small valve openings and yet small valve openings alone are not practical because the wax soon cakes in the openings cutting `olf the flow of wax. In the structure of my invention I solve this problem by providing valve members having a stem on the bottom thereof which project down through small holes in the base plate of the applicator to a point where the stem may contact the work surface. As a result the Valve stems work back and forth as the applicator is moved across a work surface and this movement of the valve stems causes the valve members to work back and forth and wobble in The constant movement of the valves working back and forth inthe valve seats keeps the small valve openings clean of caked wax which insures positive application of a metered flow of liquid wax to the work surface.

The preferred form of wax -applicator of my invention includes a handle especially constructed to facilitate ease of manipulation into corners and around in back of furniture and the like. To this end I provide a handle with a special prong arrangement at one end thereof which is pivotally attached to the applicator at two points spaced apart in such a way that when the handle is positioned at an acute angle with a horizontal plane through the applicator then a single vertical plane may be passed through the longitudinal axis ofthe handle to include both of the points of -attachment on the applicator. As a result of the way in which my handle is constructed and attached to my applicator, the applicator may be angled into corners and around in back of furniture by merely rotating the handle without swinging it out to one side or Ithe other. Ease of manipulation into corners is further enhanced by the shape of my preferred form of applicator which is in the general form of an ellipse.

These and other advantages of my invention may be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 isa top view partly broken away to show the structure of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional side view taken on line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged isometric view of a cam plate of the valve control mechanism of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the device of Fig. 2 to illustrate the valves in open position; and

Fig. 6 is taken on line 66 of Fig. 5.

Turning now to Figs. l and 2 of the drawings, my preferred form of applicator includes a reservoir 10 for liquid wax having a top cover member 12 and a base atent O Patented Mar. 14, .1961

ice

2 plate 14 joined together as at 16 to form a liquid-tight container. Base plate 14 has a plurality of holes 18` therein, which taper down trom the inside out so that the wall of the hole forms a conical valve seat 19 (Fig. 5). The body of b ase plate 14 where the holes are located is positioned slightly above the level of the side portion of the base plate, but this is merely done for convenience of construction and is notnecessary. A valve member 20 is provided for each hole and the valve member has a conical body portion 22 which is adapted to mate with the valve seats 19 of holes 18 and' form a seal against liquid wax. The valves are opened and closed by means of a valve control mechanism 24 which includes a valve control plate 26 in which the valves may be mounted and a camming plate 28 which is adapted to move the valve plate up tand down to open and close the holes in base plate 14. Camming plate 28 rests in sliding contact on base plate 14 and the plate has a camming member 30 at each end which support and make sliding contact with the underside of valve control plate 26. A pair of standards 32 rigidly mounted in base plate 14 project up through camming plate 28 and valve plate 26 and springs 34 carried at the top of each tension the valve plate down against camming members 30 of platel 28. `Standards 32 prevent valve plate 26 from moving sidewise (Fig. 2) but the plate is free to move up and down against the tension of springs 34. Valve plate 26 has four camsp36 pressed into the plate in position where they will cooperate with camming members 30 of plate 23. As most clearly shown in Fig. 2 when camming plate 28 moves to the right, valve plate 26 is lifted up and valve 20 is lifted out of seat 19 to open the valve (see Fig. 5). When camming plate 28 moves to the 1eft,.the valve is closed. Movement of camming plate 28 is controlled by means of a lug 38 which rides in an annular groove of an eccentric 42 mounted ona shaft 44. Shaft 44 projects out above the top of cover member 12y and the shaft is rotatively mounted in top cover member 12 and' in base plate 14' by means of suitable bearings 46 and 48 respectively. Rotation of shaft 44 causes eccentric 42 to rotate and as groove 40 is rotatively engaged with lug 38 it causes camming plate 28 to slide back and forth (Fig. 2). Standards 32 and shaft 44 do not interfere with movement of camming plate 28 because appropriate slots 50 and 52 respectively are provided in the camming plate for this purpose. Y

Turning now tothe top cover member 12, it `will be seen that cover member 12 is provided with an opening 53 for lling the reservoir and the opening is closed by means of a screw cap 54. A second cap 55 which carries a pointer S6 is mounted on top of shaft 44 by means of set screw 58. When pointer 56 of the cap is rotated into the area between the on and4 olf positions marked on cover member 12 valve members 20l will be raised up away from the valve seats 1-9 of holes 18 so that liquid wax is free to ow down through the holes. Reservoir 10 is vented by means of a hole 60 which passes up through top cover member 12 and bearing 46. Hole 60. cooperthere is no vent for reservoir 10'. Closing hole 60 assists j the sealing action of valve members 20. A rubber gasket 64 positioned in the top of bearing 46 makes sliding]vv contact with the body of cap 55 to give a tight seal be! tween these members. Cap 55 and shaft 44 are adapted to move through a full circle of 360 so that as pointer. 5.6 moves in a clockwise direction (Fig. 1) from the offi i to the on position and then into a selected position between the on and off positions, valve members 20 will be forced to lift all the way up away from their seat in holes 18 which assists in breaking any lm of dry wax that may have formed between the valve member and its seat. Another advantage of opening the valves all the way before they are adjusted down into normal operating position is that a surge of liquid is provided immediately to start the waxing operation.

Turning now to valve members 20, in the preferred form of my invention shown in Fig. 2, the valve members are made of a exible vmaterial as for example a plastic material preferably rubber and the members are mounted in holes 66 of valve plate 26 by means of a groove 68 positioned in the top portion of the conical body 22 of valve member 20. The shank 69 of the groove is preferably made just large enough to give snug t in holes 66 of valve plate 26. Since valves 20 are flexible, they may be mounted in holes 66 by distorting the top shoulder portion of the valve member which is then snapped through hole 66 to mount the valve.

Liquid wax is quite fluid and for eifective control, the clearance between valve member 20 and seat 19 must be small. I have found that if the clearance of the valve is set to deliver liquid wax at such a rate as to give a fairly heavy coating of wax on the work surface, then when the clearance is reduced to give a relatively thin coating of wax, the flow of wax soon stops and in a few minutes is completely cut off. I believe that the surface tension of the liquid wax prevents the liquid from flowing down through a very small clearance and this was a serious drawback because the applicator could not be used for applying a thin coating of wax which is desirable for most household uses. I solved this problem by providing the bottom of each valve with a stem '70 which projects down through hole 18 to a point immediately below the bottom level of base plate 14. The stem is preferably made long enough so that when the valves are wide open the stem just reaches down below the level of base plate 14. As a result, valve stem 70 may make contact with the work surface and work back and forth (Fig. 5) as the applicator is pushed back and forth across a work surface. When the valve stems work back and forth, they cause the conical body portion of valve member to wobble in its seat in hole 18. It may well be that as valve member 20 wobbles, the conical body portion will press tightly against one or the other side of seat 19 and in so doing move away from its seat on the oppoiste side of the valve to increase the annular clearance and break the surface tension of the liquid wax so that it will ow or, on the other hand, it may just be the wobbling action that breaks the surface tension. But, in any event, the liquid wax does flow down very slowly through holes 18 and this enables me to apply a very thin coating of wax to -a work surface which is one of the great advantages of the wax applicator of my invention. The exact length of valve stem 70 is unimportant just as long as the valve stem makes sufficient contact with the work surface so that it will work back and forth when the valves are open and the applicator is in use. The diameter of stem 70 is of course smaller than the diameter of holes 18 and preferably the clearance between stem 70 and the wall of hole 18 is equal to the maximum clearance between the conical body portion of valve 20 and seat 19 so that the conical body portion of the valve will control the ilow.

Another important advantage of my wobble valve structure is that the continuous back and forth movement of the valve as it works in the valve seat keeps the seat clean and no caked wax can accumulate to clog up the opening of the valve. As sometimes happens, small lumps of wax are found in liquid wax but this has no adverse effect on my applicator because the lumps are soon broken up by my wobble valves and passed down through the valve opening. In fact, I have actually filled 4, up the depressions around the bottom of holes 18 and allowed the wax to cake and harden for a week and after a few brisk strokes over a wooden floor, the wobbling valve stems had broken up the wax and the valves were clean and bright and ow of liquid wax through the valve opening was normal.

In order to assist in spreading liquid wax on the work surface, I provide a boot 98 made of a suitable soft material preferably a textile material which ts over the bot tom of the applicator and is held in place by means of an elastic band or tie string 100. With boot 98 in place valve stems 70 and 72 will of course contact the boot instead of the work surface but wobbling of the valve members takes place as described hereinabove. ln the preferred form of my invention, I attach a bumper 102 around the outside of the applicator and the bumper is preferably made of rubber.

Another great advantage of the wax applicator of my invention involves the ease with which it can be manipulated into corners and around in back of furniture. This ease of manipulation is a direct result of the shape of the applicator and the construction of the handle and the way in which it is attached to top cover member 12. First as to shape, the applicator of my invention is preferably not over about l and 1/2 to 2 inches high and as best shown in Fig. l, the applicator is in the general form of an ellipse. The elliptical shape is achieved by making side sections 104 of the applicator in the general form of a triangle having a rounded nose 106 and the base of each triangle is separated by means of a central body portion 108 in which the walls on opposite sides are arranged parallel to each other. I have found 'that this particular shape is highly effective for reaching into corners and around in back of furniture and the like.

The handle 110 for my waxer is particularly unique. As best shown in Fig. 3 the top portion 112 of the handle carries two prongs 114 and 116 respectively at the bottom thereof which are spaced apart at their terminal ends so that each prong may be pivotally mounted at opposite sides of top cover member 12. The terminal end portions 118 and 120 respectively are sharply bent outwardly away from the body portion of each prong and the terminal end portions are rotatively mounted in holes 122 each of which are positioned near the top of a lug 124 and 126 respectively which are mounted in spaced relationship on top cover member 12. The construction of the handle and prongs and their arrangement relative to the mounting lugs is such that my waxer may be turned to bring one or the other of triangular side sections 104 forward.

This yresult is achieved in the structure of my invention because the relationship of the handle and attaching elements is such that when the longitudinal axis of the handle is at an acute angle with a horizontal plane through the applicator then the longitudinal axis of the handle and the two points where the handle is attached to the mounting ylugs may all be brought into a single vertical plane passed through the horizontal plane of the applicator. Referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen that handle 110 is preferably mounted so that the longitudinal axis of the handle is at an acute angle with a horizontal plane through the applicator. Since the points of attachment of handle 110 in holes 122 of lugs 124 and 126 are located in the vertical plane of the longitudinal axis of the handle when the handle is held in normal position for use lugs 124 and 126 are mounted one behind the other in such plane and prongs 114 and 116 are unequal in length, the forward prong 114 being longer than the rear prong 116. It is to be noted that in my structure a vertical plane passed through the line of a diameter of holes 122 will substantially form a right angle with the vertical plane that includes the longitudinal axis of handle 110 and the points of attachment of each prong in lugs 124 and 126.

In normal use the longitudinal axis of handle 110 will move back and forth in the vertical plane that includes the longitudinal `axis of the handle and the points where the handle is attached to the applicator and the handle may be kept in such plane and merely rotated to bn'ng one or the other triangular side section 104 of the applicator forward to reach into a corner. It is also to be noted that the pivotal mounting of prongs 114 and 116 in holes 122 is such that handle 110y cannot pivot to any extent -in the vertical plane in which its longitudinal axis is held during normal use, but the handle may be readily pivoted from side to side out of such plane when it is necessary or convenient to do so. Referring to prongs 114 and 116, yas shown in Fig. 3 the prongs are* most conveniently made up of a single length of wire bent into the general form of a U with a iiat portion 128 at the closed end of the U which is securely held against the base of the top portion 112 of handle 110 by means of a sleeve 130 which lits snugly over the end of the topportion of the handle where it may be held in place by means of ya suitable rivet 132. In bending the wire the space between the terminal ends of prongs 114 and 116 is purposely made larger than the space between mounting lugs 124 and 126 so that the prongs will make a spring t into holes 122 and remain in place because of tension in the wire.

This application is a continuation in part of my earlier application Serial No. 402,534, filed January 6, 1954, and of my earlier application Serial No. 439,050 filed June 24, 1954, both now abandoned.

It will be understood that I intend to cover all changes and modifications of the preferred form of my invention herein chosen for the purpose of illustration which do not constitute ya departure from Lthe spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. A device for applying liquid wax to a work surface comprising a reservoir for the liquid having a base plate with a plurality of holes therein, a plurality of valve members for opening and closing the holes, means for controlling the valve members adapted to permit a portion of the valve members to wobble and change position relative to the wall of the hole when the valve is open and the device s pushed back and forth across a work surface, said valve control means including a valve control plate and camming mechanism adapted to raise and lower the plate to open and close the valves, the valve members being mounted in the Valve control plate and each having a stem mounted on the bottom thereof which projects down through the holes to a point below the level of the base plate where the stem may contact the work surface, a textile boot mounted on the device which covers the base plate and valve stems, said stems being made of fa flexible material so that the stem will work back and forth and cause the valve member to wobble when the valves are open and the device is pushed back and forth across a work surface.

2. A device for applying liquid wax to a work surface which comprises anenclosed reservoir for liquid having a base plate with a plurality of holes therein, flexible valve members adapted to open said holes when the valve members are lifted up and to close said holes when the valve members are moved down into contact with the wall of the holes, a valve control plate, means for mounting the valve members in such control plate, each of said valve members being free to move in yany direction in a horizontal plane relative to the holes when the valve is open, a mechanism for raising and lowering the valve control plate and valves to open and close the holes, control means for operating said mechanism which are oper-Y able from the exterior of the device, means for venting the reservoir, means for filling the reservoir, each of said valve members having a stem at the bottom thereof which projects down through the holes to a point just below the bottom surface of the base plate, a textile boot adapted to cover the valve stem and bottom of the base plate and means for holding the textile boot in place o-n the device.

3. An applicator for applying liquid wax to a work surface comprising 'a reservoir for the wax having a base plate thereon with a plurality of holes therein, iiexible valve members for opening and closing the holes, a mechanism for raising and lowering the flexible valve members relative to the holes in the base plate, said exible valve members having a sealing area in the body portion thereof adapted to be brought into sealing relationship with the holes in the base plate to close the holes when the valve members are lowered down to a position in proximity to the base plate and to open the holes when the valve members are raised up away from the base plate, said valve members each having a stem positioned below the said sealing area which stem has a smaller outside diameter than the inside diameter of the holes and which stem is long enough to project down through the holes of the base plate to la point below the level of the bottom of the plate and into position where the stem will contact the work surface when the valves are open and because of such contact be caused to move in the holes relative to the base plate when the applicator is moved across a work surface so that movement of the valve stems in the holes will tend to break up and dislodge caked wax that tends to interfere with the ow of liquid through the holes.

4. A structure as specified in claim 3 in which the exible valve members are rubber.

5. A structure as specified in claim 3 which includes a polishing boot of textile material that covers the base plate and valves and means for attaching the boot to the bottom of the applicator.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 495,223 Lane Apr. 11, 1893 562,362 Koetzner June 16, 1896 774,553 Boon Nov. 8, 1904 1,217,054 Pearman Feb. 20, 1917 1,379,249 Chelius May 24, 1921 1,545,392 Brown July 7, 1925 1,550,845 Rickards Aug. 25, 1925 1,600,095 Casaclang Sept. 14, 1926 1,770,795 May July 15, 1930 1,783,773 Bilde Dec. 2, 1930 1,920,069 Endlyy July 25, 1933 1,927,788 Larkin Sept. 19, 1933 2,102,749 Salvesen Dec. 21, 1937 2,155,125 Glenn 'Apr. 18, 1939 2,486,847 Hokett Nov. 1, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 702,437 France Ian. 26, 1931 

